The field of art to which this invention pertains is the production of a hydrogenated hydrocarbonaceous product from a feedstock comprising organic compounds and which feedstock has a tendency to readily form polymer compounds.
More specifically, the invention relates to a process for the hydroconversion of a feedstock comprising organic compounds which are polymer precursors and which process comprises: (a) contacting the feedstock with a hydrogenated recycle liquid containing dissolved hydrogen in a first hydrogenation reaction zone operated at hydrogenation conditions selected to minimize a hydrogen-rich gaseous phase and to selectively hydrogenate the feedstock comprising organic compounds and to produce a first hydrogenated stream comprising hydrocarbonaceous compounds and having a reduced tendency to produce polymers; (b) contacting at least a portion of the first hydrogenated stream with a hydrogen-rich gaseous stream in a saturation zone to produce a second hydrogenated stream containing dissolved hydrogen; (c) introducing at least a portion of the second hydrogenated stream containing dissolved hydrogen into the first hydrogenation reaction zone in step (a) as at least a portion of the hydrogenation recycle liquid; (d) contacting at least another portion of the second hydrogenated stream containing dissolved hydrogen with added hydrogen in a second hydrogenation reaction zone operated at hydrogenation conditions selected to produce a third hydrogenated stream comprising hydrogenated hydrocarbonaceous compounds and hydrogen; and (e) recovering the third hydrogenated stream.
There is a steadily increasing demand for technology which is capable of the hydroconversion of a feedstock comprising organic compounds and which feedstock has a tendency to readily form polymer compounds. Such feedstocks readily polymerize particularly when subjected to conventional hydroconversion. Previous techniques utilized to dispose of such feedstocks which are often undesirable by-products of other manufacturing processes such as vinyl chloride, epichlorohydrin, carbon tetrachloride, styrene and perchloroethylene, for example, have frequently become environmentally unpopular or illegal and, in general, have always been expensive. With the increased environmental emphasis for the treatment and recycle of organic products including chlorinated products, there is an increased need for the conversion of these products in the event that they become unwanted or undesirable. For example, during the disposal or recycle of potentially environmentally harmful diolefinic halogenated organic waste streams, an important step in the total solution to the problem is the conditioning of the diolefinic halogenated organic stream which facilitates the ultimate resolution to provide product streams which may be handled in an environmentally acceptable manner. Therefore, those skilled in the art have sought to find feasible techniques to hydroconvert feedstocks comprising organic compounds which have a tendency to readily form polymer compounds to provide hydrocarbonaceous product streams which may be safely and usefully employed or used. Previous techniques which have been employed include incineration which in addition to potential pollution considerations fails to recover valuable hydrocarbonaceous materials.